Cards

Friday, April 1, 2016

Card Madness 2016, Pt. 8

Here we are: the Final Four! If you need a quick recap, check out the full bracket here. Now that all of our real brackets have been busted and basically nobody alive chose the actual Final Four, let's see how our remaining NFL teams fare on the cardboard.

Round 4 Matchup: Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Oakland Raiders

2014 Panini Prizm #265 Allen Robinson

Player: 4 Robinson is turning into a bona fide star. Just think, the Jaguars entire passing attack--Bortles, Robinson, and Allen Hurns--all came from the 2014 draft. Not too bad a haul for the front office brass.Design: 4Photo: 3Back: 2Condition: 3

2014 Rookies & Stars #131 Derek Carr

Player: 4 This is Carr's 2nd appearance in this tourney. He's certainly the future in Oakland, and a fitting representative of the team here.Design: 4 This is a design that has had to grow on me, but I like it.Photo: 4 I like the look of the poised passer ready to throw. And what is blurred out in the background? The intrigue adds to it for me.Back: 2 The player name is in a cool font that is different from the rest of the card and works well with the overall design.Condition: 3

Final Score: Oakland 17, Jacksonville 16. In a clash between two talented young rising stars and their respective rookie cards, Derek Carr takes the Raiders into the the championship round.

Round 4 Matchup: Minnesota Vikings vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

2013 Panini Prizm Autographs #280 Rodney Smith

Player: 1 2 seasons, 3 teams, 8 total games, 0 receptions, 1 special teams tackle. That's three times as many teams as recorded stats. How's that for a career stat line? At least the Vikings are represented by somebody not named Adrian Peterson for a change.Design: 3 Photo: 2 Back: 2Condition: 3Extra: 1 Autograph. That's about the only exciting thing going on here. And it's an awful signature, at that. Messy, shaky, and how is that first letter an "R"?

2008 Topps Gold Foil #398 Dre Moore

Player: 1 Let's compare stat lines: 1 season, 1 team, 7 games, 4 total tackles. So who's the better player? I think I go with Moore.Design: 3Photo: 1 Unflattering practice shot. Then again, it's not as if there were too many other situations to snap a better pic.Back: 3 Not a bad design, with the added bonus of learning that he had never played football until he was a junior in high school.Condition: 3Final Score: Minnesota 12, Tampa Bay 11. In a real playoff matchup, one could say a low score is indicative of great defenses pitted against each other. Here it just means that neither team brought its A-game. But Minnesota brought enough to advance to the championship round.